PHILADELPHIA — One day after he stirred controversy by claiming Hillary Clinton would flip her position on trade if elected president, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe changed his mind, and explained that the Democratic nominee will never waver in her opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership.
“Hillary is against TPP and she is always going to stay against TPP,” McAuliffe said at a union event Wednesday.
The Virginia governor said Tuesday that Clinton would likely revert to her previous position of support for the trade deal if she became president.
“Once the election’s over, and we sit down on trade, people understand a couple things we want to fix on it but going forward we got to build a global economy,” McAuliffe predicted about Clinton’s trade position. “Listen, she was in support of it. There were specific things in it she wants fixed.”
Clinton’s campaign quickly moved to downplay the claim.
Progressives have been skeptical of Clinton’s commitment to blocking the trade deal throughout the primary season given that she praised TPP negotiations while serving as secretary of state.
She announced her decision to oppose the agreement under pressure from Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had made criticism of TPP a focal point of his insurgent campaign.
